Electronic displays can be used in outdoor venues such as shopping malls, transportation hubs, sporting arenas and other high traffic outdoor areas. These outdoor electronic displays can be placed within a protective cabinet that can limit unauthorized access to the electronic display and can shield the display from inclement weather or airborne contaminants. As different geographic regions can have substantially different weather and environmental conditions, cabinets for electronic displays can be designed to account for different types of weather conditions and climates. Cabinets can be classified according to the type of weather conditions and climate the cabinet is designed to protect. The classification can also include the level of protection provided by the cabinet.
Certain types of cabinets, such as those having a National Electrical Manufactures Association (“NEMA”) Type 3R or a NEMA Type 4X rating, can provide a high level of protection against windblown particulates, the ingress of liquid water, corrosion and damage from ice forming on the exterior of the cabinet. The protection can be provided by placing the display within a water-tight shroud that can protect the display from moisture and other contaminants. While the shroud can limit the moisture and contaminants that can reach the display, the openings in the shroud can provide routes through which moisture and contaminants can penetrate. The openings can receive cabling for the displays, providing ventilation for the displays and receiving mounting features for suspending or otherwise mounting the cabinet on support structures.
A corresponding challenge is that the final mounting position of a cabinet can be varied depending on the end user's needs and available mounting structures. Accordingly, certain cabinets can be provided with a plurality of pre-drilled mounting openings positioned linearly or in an array. One or more of the pre-drilled mounting openings can be aligned with the mounting features to position and mount the cabinet in the desired position. However, the extra, unused mounting openings can provide an additional pathway for moisture or other contaminants that must be sealed or otherwise covered to prevent the moisture or contaminants from entering the cabinet.
One approach that can be employed to avoid the problem of unused mounting openings is to provide the cabinet without any openings and having an installer drill only the minimum number of mounting openings required at the positions corresponding to the appropriate mounting position for the cabinet. While this approach can minimize the number of openings in the cabinet, this arrangement can require the installer to drill the openings at the proper locations with the appropriate bore diameter and shape. If the openings are drilled at incorrect positions, new openings must then be drilled resulting in unnecessary openings in the cabinet compromising the integrity of the cabinet. Similarly, if the opening is improperly drilled or drilled at the wrong size, then the mounting feature may not properly seat within the opening or deform the edges of the opening, allowing moisture to penetrate the cabinet between the mounting feature and the edges of the hole. The installer must also be trusted to properly seal the mounting features within the opening to avoid moisture or contaminant ingress.